THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Nehru-Gandhi scion Priyanka Gandhi is set to make her electoral debut from the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat, where the byelection will be held on November 13. Hours after the EC announced the date, the Congress declared the candidature of AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi to the seat vacated by her brother Rahul Gandhi.
Byelections to two assembly constituencies in Kerala — Palakkad and Chelekkara — will also be held on November 13. CPI will finalise its candidate for Wayanad on Thursday.
Congress looking to improve victory margin in Wayanad
Annie Raja, whom the CPI had fielded against Rahul, informed the leadership of her reluctance to contest. Former MLA E S Bijimol is being considered as a candidate. Considering Priyanka’s candidature, the leadership would zero in on a woman candidate. As for the BJP, Sobha Surendran, M T Ramesh, and A P Abdullakkutty are doing the rounds.
The Congress state leadership is an energised lot as another Gandhi family member will be defending the seat. Sources said Priyanka and Rahul will arrive together to submit her nomination papers. Congress MLAs AP Anil Kumar and T Siddique were given overall charge of the Wayanad constituency.
Anil told TNIE that the leadership is doubly elated as it’s going to be Priyanka’s electoral debut. “Sonia Gandhi contested from Bellary in Karnataka in the 1999 LS election. Her son, Rahul Gandhi came to Wayanad to contest in 2019. Priyanka making her grand entry in Wayanad is going to create ripples across the country,” he said.
The Wayanad DCC has already completed the first round of assembly constituency level meetings. Sultan Bathery MLA I C Balakrishnan said the plan for 576 booth committees in 23 panchayats will be constituted on Wednesday. “Dean Kuriakose, Sunny Joseph and Rajmohan Unnithan have been given charge of Sulthan Bathery, Mananthavady and Kalpetta respectively,” he said. The Congress state leadership wants to enhance Rahul’s 2024 victory margin of 3.64 lakh votes. Initially, the Congress was apprehensive about how survivors of the recent landslides would react to a byelection. However, out of more than 1,000 wards in Wayanad, only three were affected by the landslides.